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Repair of The Hermitage Garden
Photographer: Sandra Hughes
Taken: September 25, 2010
Caption: Repair of The Hermitage Garden
Additional Description: In 1867, C.C. Giers took series of stereographs of the Hermitage including this image of the Jackson tomb. His photographs show that The Hermitage as a whole was in a state of disrepair, especially the garden. After Jackson's death, his family's fortunes continued to dwindle leaving little money for garden work. The enslaved labor who worked the garden also disappeared as the family sold slaves to cover debts and as the slave fled for freedom during the Civil War.

The Ladies' Hermitage Association put re-establishment of the garden high on their priority list when they took over The Heritage in 1889. With few paper records to consult, they had to rely on what remained of the garden, family memories, especially those of Jackson's granddaughter Rachel, and their own ideas of what an "old fashioned" garden should look like.
Submitted: February 8, 2012, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.
Database Locator Identification Number: p191965
File Size: 0.226 Megabytes

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